What are your goals for riding. Do you see yourself going beyond 23 miles, riding tours, centuries, longer distances or group rides. How often do you ride? What is the quality of roads that you ride? Is the pavement smooth or pretty rough, like chip n seal? Is the terrain hilly or flat?

A good carbon frame will dampen the the buzz from the road, aluminum is more jarring, steel somewhere in between.

Bicycling is like any other sport, as you grow you will want better equipment. If you're not sure of your goals then buy the cheaper frame and upgrade to a better frame later.

Gearing is a matter of preference. It also depends on the terrain you are riding. I've not used a triple even though I'm used to climbing hills. I prefer a compact double, smaller rings in the front. 48-34 with a 13-29 in the rear. But there are riders who swear by triples. Triples come with a 52T big ring in the front. The ring is too large for me to use so I figure, why have it. I do lose a little on the downhills but I'm usually doing some braking so I don't care.

Shimano 105, Ultregra and Dura-Ace are the top 3 in the Shimano line, Veloce, Chorus and Record are the tops in Campy. Most bike manufactures use Shimano but are mixing it with different companies so a bike that has mostly 105 would be a good choice.

Weight matters too especially if you are a lightweight rider. How much difference is there in the weights of the bikes you are looking at? Better components and wheels will reduce the weight and make climbing easier.

Don't be afraid of carbon, a well made carbon frame will last for many years and many miles. Mine is 6 yrs old and has 16,000 miles on it. It's showing no signs of cracking or fatigue. The company has a crash replacement policy in the event something happens to it. My SO has a Trek 2100 that he bought in the mid 90's. It was one of the first carbon frames on the market. It has aluminum lugs. He still rides it and has not had any problems with it. However, he does like his steel Independent Fabrication better.

No matter what bike you chose if it doesn't fit well, you won't want to ride it, so make the shop does a good job of fitting you.